History Lesson

Freshmen Get Commonwealth Crash Course

November 26, 2003|By NORM WOOD Daily Press

BLACKSBURG — As Brandon Gore walked into Virginia Tech's locker room Tuesday, he almost ran into the Commonwealth Cup trophy when he rounded the corner. A small sign attached to the Cup read, "1,506 days in Blacksburg." For almost five years the trophy -- awarded to the winner of the annual Virginia-Virginia Tech football game -- has stayed on the western side of the state.

As Gore read the sign, Doug Easlick looked up from his locker. Easlick, a senior, began teaching Gore, a redshirt freshman, a history lesson.

"I've never lost to U.Va., and I'm not going to," said Easlick, a fullback.

Gore got the point.

For the freshmen at both universities, Saturday's Virginia-Virginia Tech game means different things. But winning that 4-foot-tall, 100-plus-pound silver-plated cup, with the scores from all of the games engraved on its side, is the lesson of the week.

"You can just tell from all the seniors around here, it's really important to them," Gore said. "The way this season has gone so far, beating U.Va. would mean a lot going into the bowl game."

While the rivalry is important to seniors, this is the first opportunity that many of the younger players will have to play former high school teammates, friends or rivals.

Gore was raised in Warrenton, less than two hours from Charlottesville. Growing up, he said all he ever heard was adults extolling the virtues of U.Va.'s football program. He knows about a dozen players on U.Va.'s team.

Though he's a backup and will be lucky to see 15 snaps Saturday, Gore hopes for a chance to line up against nose tackle Andrew Hoffman. Gore was a sophomore at Liberty-Bealeton High the last time he faced Hoffman, who was a senior at Park View-Sterling High.

"He probably doesn't remember me all that well because it was my first year playing football and he was on his way out, but I remember him because he was kind of the big guy in my area at that time," Gore said.

Kai Parham, a redshirt freshman linebacker for Virginia, is doing his best to forget about high school rivalries and relationships this week. But he said he's looking forward to seeing Tech tailback Cedric Humes, who graduated from Princess Anne High in Virginia Beach a year before Parham.

"He's a good player," Parham said. "He can really play. I'm just going to go out there, play hard, shake his hand at the end of the game and tell him I hope everything is OK. But he needs to know I'm coming to play."

Most of the young players for U.Va. and Virginia Tech don't need to be educated about Saturday's game.

More than half of U.Va.'s team has in-state roots, and nearly two-thirds of Virginia Tech's roster was raised in the state. But that's not to say seniors on both teams haven't been giving refresher courses on hating the other in-state university this week.

Teammates said Almondo Curry, a senior cornerback for the Cavaliers and a Hampton High graduate, started the Hokie-bashing after U.Va.'s 29-17 win against Georgia Tech last Saturday.

Vegas Robinson, a senior linebacker for Virginia Tech, has been Curry's smack-talking rival this week, according to his teammates.

Curry and Robinson have one goal in mind: Teach the younger players that for three hours the guys they used to know won't be their friends.

"We have to go out there and show that the new class at Virginia Tech can play, just like (U.Va.'s young players) want to show that, too," said Hokies defensive end Noland Burchette, a redshirt freshman. "You know who you're going against. You know their tendencies. Now, you've got to beat them."

FRESHMEN TO WATCH

Freshmen and redshirt (*) freshmen for U.Va. and Va. Tech who may play Saturday: